My USB drives keep dying with my AC86U router. What is reliable brand?

[drinkingbird]

I think it is important to note that heavy swapping will kill a drive far faster than just doing file storage etc. If your thumb drive can't handle USB3 speeds, set it to USB2, may help reduce heat some, but probably won't help much. Some here may just be doing file storage and that is why they are having better luck (or just older, more reliable drives).

I've even found Sandisk evo microSD cards have really fallen off lately. The pro seems to work better.

Agreed that flash drives have gotten far worse over the years. External enclosure with SSD is they way to go (and not that expensive to do these days). At one point several companies were making thumb drives that were essentially SSDs on a stick with the performance and endurance of one, but they were pretty pricey, no sense in doing that when you can get a 256G SSD for cheap and an USB 3 enclosure for it for another 10 bucks or so. Just note that on older revisions of the AC routers, using USB3 can cause interference and impact your wireless signal. Newer ones implemented additional shielding.

I so very much want to use my router as a basic NAS but the security conscious part of me does not like having my files directly on my internet facing device.

 

[Tech Junky]

NAS the security conscious part of me does not like having my files directly on my internet facing device.

Build your own and secure it well with some simple iptables rules that only allow originated traffic and it's fine. I've been running my DIY router for a few years now and haven't had any issues with leaks. Better performance for sure vs something off the shelf. Being able to customize the NIC / NAS so they provide enough bandwidth is nice rather than being forced into 1GE or 10GE if you're running closer to 5GE saves some expense. Being able to use a 4-port 5GE NIC for WAN/LAN/AP at varying speeds for max throughput vs 1 / maybe 2 ports on an off the shelf router. If you have a PC sitting around anyway it's an easy process. If you cracked the NAS OS to open source you could convert it as well if you have dual ports or hang a USB off it for inside/outside IF's.

Problems with security come up when you go poking holes in the FW to permit outside access or don't block by default and only permit what's needed.

 

[BreakingDad]

2x 2tb wd passport works a treat on my ax86u, both ntfs, one has a 20gb ext4 parition I use for the router stuff, rest is tv shows, movies and backups. All stream perfectly on all devices. (The Nas Purists shudder)

 

[anotherengineer]

One thing that might help is to use a short USB extension, so that way the heat generated by the router won't turn your thumbdrive into an heatsink. I used to do that with my WDTV as it was generating a lot of extra heat on my thumbdrive.

That old Kingston DT410 has been going on 24/7 for close to ten years now on my router, and a few more years before that running 24/7 on my WDTV. USB thumbdrives used to be much more reliable than they are today

Agreed.

I have an old 8GB corsair voyager GT, probably circa 2007, maybe earlier, I believe it has SLC flash on it, still working fine, although seems to be not as compatible as it used to be.

I would look for something that has a 5yr+ warranty an call it a day, get a few of them and make a few duplicated and just swap them.

I wish they would still build them/some with SLC and label them as such, I would gladly pay the price premium for the durability.

 

[Ribbles]

Thanks guys, I got one of these 80GB external HDD for $17 Can't complain for the price. Got everything installed again. I'll let you know how long it lasts.

 

[Yota]

Thanks guys, I got one of these 80GB external HDD for $18. Can't complain for the price. Got everything installed again. I'll let you know how long it lasts.

That's a hard drive, so it'll be durable, the only thing stopping it from working might be its motor, but still no data loss.

But this consumes more power, basically several times that of an SSD.

Frankly, I think you can get a 128 GB SSD for the same price

 

[drinkingbird]

Build your own and secure it well with some simple iptables rules that only allow originated traffic and it's fine. I've been running my DIY router for a few years now and haven't had any issues with leaks. Better performance for sure vs something off the shelf. Being able to customize the NIC / NAS so they provide enough bandwidth is nice rather than being forced into 1GE or 10GE if you're running closer to 5GE saves some expense. Being able to use a 4-port 5GE NIC for WAN/LAN/AP at varying speeds for max throughput vs 1 / maybe 2 ports on an off the shelf router. If you have a PC sitting around anyway it's an easy process. If you cracked the NAS OS to open source you could convert it as well if you have dual ports or hang a USB off it for inside/outside IF's.

Problems with security come up when you go poking holes in the FW to permit outside access or don't block by default and only permit what's needed.

I have a file server PC now, that's what I'm trying to eliminate. Making that PC my router also is going in the opposite direction of what I want to do. If anything I'd move to a standalone NAS behind the Asus.

 

[pirx73]

I would suggest small and cheap SSD, no USB flashes.

 

[IVBela]

We've talked about this before... (needs to be a sticky)!

USB drives use NAND media that is mostly "bottom of the barrel" WRT to reliability and longevity. It is not designed for repeated writes and the small physical size does not help the heat dissipation issues which decimates electronics.

BLUF: If one wants a reliable solution for running SWAP and AMTM on the ASUS routers, then what has proven ultra reliable for me (and many others here who have tried it) is the USB <-> SATA + small SATA SSD plugged into USB2 port. I've been running these setups for 5+ years without a whimper. I've used the UGREEN USB/SATA models (they use the ASMedia chipset) for every router I have + a smaller SATA SSD, (Samsung, Micron, Intel). There are many technical reasons why this approach is a more reliable solution than any USB key stuck on the rear of the routers. (Technical dive is far beyond the original question.) Sure, there are good, better and best USB manufacturers but I've seen these change over the past 3-5 years too. Lexar, Sandisk have stayed remain tier 1 but again overall longevity is not designed in for this NAND's use profile.

For me, reliable, hassle free far exceeds having to spend more of my valuable time debugging weirdness and replacing USB keys every couple of years. What's your time and headache worth? YMMV. Peace. Stay safe, stay alive! Have fun!

http://www.snbforums.com/threads/cpu-100-on-ac86u.66775/#post-625038
http://www.snbforums.com/threads/is-using-a-usb-stick-a-bad-idea.59248/#post-518348
http://www.snbforums.com/threads/amtm-step-by-step-install-guide-l-ld.56237/page-13#post-646545
http://www.snbforums.com/threads/is...s567-sata-6gb-s-bridge-ssd.73237/#post-696489

UGreen unit -> https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07D2BHVBD/?tag=snbforums-20

I ended up here after my 3rd USB drive died in 2 years or so... Love this solution, but was wondering, is the power from the USB port of the router enough to power the SSD in the enclosure? Any advantage of SATA over an already USB-C SSD? (I have one of those already)

Thank you for any response!

 

[Tech Junky]

Use whatever you have and get USB adapter for plug into the router.

 

[pirx73]

I had older SATA (Intel 535 series, 240GB) from PC upgrade and yes, i did put in USB enclosure. I would suggest buying USB 3.0 enclosure. Any 2.5" SATA enclosure will do, i personally like this one, because of color and it looks neat

ADATA XPG EX500 HDD 2.5i enclosure

ADATA XPG EX500 HDD 2.5i enclosure - Price 20.60 €, In stock 11 units Buy and get free shipping!

www.dateks.lv

USB 3.0 enclosure is basically a box (more or less fancy design) with an SATA-USB adapter inside.
You can pick any USB 3.0 2.5" SATA enclosure, there are tons of them:
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=USB+3.0+HDD+2.5"+enclosure&crid=10I2AYNRW3BA0&sprefix=usb+3.0+hdd+2.5+,aps,232&ref=nb_sb_noss
Basically - whatever you like. Of course you can buy pre-made external SSD:
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=external+ssd&crid=D9TFNFY2FHXP&sprefix=external+ssd,aps,173&ref=nb_sb_noss
But i think they are quite large in capacity and thus not very cheap. Unless you need 1TB SSD for the router.
Small SSDs are below 20$ even:
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=ssd+64gb&crid=2GRQKGONLI1EW&sprefix=ssd+64,aps,174&ref=nb_sb_noss
Brand - any brand will do for the router.
Router power is more than enough for an SSD.

DISCLAIMER: i gave these links just for the reference to provide approximate pricing and availability. You can use whatever shop you like.

 

[Clark Griswald]

These are the products that I use for Scripts and swap file, and have not experienced any issues:

UGREEN Enclosure
SanDisk SSD
USB Cable

 

[gattaca]

I ended up here after my 3rd USB drive died in 2 years or so... Love this solution, but was wondering, is the power from the USB port of the router enough to power the SSD in the enclosure? Any advantage of SATA over an already USB-C SSD? (I have one of those already)

Thank you for any response!

The onboard chipset should the model several of us use and have extensively deployed and posted. I've used the UGREEN model on 6+ routers b/c they use the ASMedia chipset. These, for me, are plugged into the USB2 slot. Theses UGREEN and SSD typically do not have power consumption issues. If you put in a spinning HDD, though... all bets off.

We know the USB/SATA models posted work -> UGREEN USB/SATA as they use the ASMedia chipset. Other USB/SATA enclosures use other chipsets, some of which have had data reliability issues. I don't keep all those bad ones in my brain. YMMV. Have a great evening!

 

[drinkingbird]

I ended up here after my 3rd USB drive died in 2 years or so... Love this solution, but was wondering, is the power from the USB port of the router enough to power the SSD in the enclosure? Any advantage of SATA over an already USB-C SSD? (I have one of those already)

Thank you for any response!

Should have no issue powering the SSD from the USB port on the Asus.

A USB-C SSD is just a SATA SSD (or possibly an NVMe PCI-E) with USB-C enclosure. Use a USB A to C cable and you'll be fine. Of course throughput won't be as fast as true USB-C but that's not an issue here, you're limited by USB3 port on the router regardless.